All shops of Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (part of Evraz Group) are still operating stably despite the cold weather that has set in. Thanks to the well-organized performance of the personnel, the raw produce is unloaded and shipped smoothly, and all the facilities work okay. The defrosting garages located in Lebyazhinskiy agglomeration shop are functioning without any interruptions, with the temperatures necessary for safekeeping of railway carriages maintained at all times. The unloading of burden material is kept in compliance with the schedule; due to the additional

‘Sverdlovsk Region Government and I support the actions of Ural Airlines. The thing is, this carrier is the only one on the large market that tackles the social responsibility of business,’ Governor Eduard Rossel announced at the press conference. ‘The planes of Ural Airlines perform flights to almost all possible destinations, including the ones that are not so profitable for them, whereas Moscow carriers, for instance, only choose the flights that yield good revenues,’ Mr Rossel said. ‘Ural Airlines manage to meet the needs of all of its potential clients as well as develop their business

Saint Petersburg-based OMZ Spetsstal Ltd. and UralmashSpetsstal Ltd., the metallurgical branches of United Machine Building Works, have taken part in the XIIth international Specialized Exhibition known as Metal Expo 2006 held on November 14-17 2006 within the framework of a metallurgical forum referred to as Moscow Metal Week. OMZ Spetsstal Ltd. and UralmashSpetsstal Ltd. exhibited all the range of their produce, namely, shaped castings (steel and iron founding), hot-rolled sheets and slabs for various purposes as well as roller billets and hot- and cold-rolled rollers. The two companies

In order to provide the reliable performance of Yestyuninskaya, Yuzhnaya, and Magnetitovaya mines, Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (part of Evraz Group) conducted a number of technological blasts. The total amount of muck with the required iron content came to over 40,000 tons. These technological blasts are tackled under the ground on regular basis; first, depending on the results of the exploration work, the sections of the mine liable to treatment are determined. Then, the blast is conducted with the help of the non-electrical priming system. This method has been used by

Skoda JS (part of OMZ Atom, which is itself a part of United Machine Building Works) signed an over ?3.5m contract with Nuclear Research Institute Řež for upgrading their research reactors LVR-15 and LR-0 on November 16, 2006. The project will be completed in the first half of 2008, with 50% of financial backing coming from the European Union structural funds. The tender for taking care of the technological aspect of the project known as Řež Scientific Technological Park and Hatcher Entrepreneurship was announced by the Nuclear Research Institute in July 2006. Skoda JS is going to employ the

Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank held Borrower’s Day last weekend, celebrated by the bank and the residents of Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region. All people who visited the bank over the weekends were given gift certificates entitling them to a 25% discount off the initial commission the bank normally takes when giving a loan, and souvenirs bearing the bank logo, says the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank. What is more, any visitor could check out an impromptu artist’s studio and get their take-off sketched for them without setting foot outside the office. The potential clients were

Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) received three Certificates of Award for contributing to Urals’ industrial heritage and large-scale educational activity. The ceremony took place in the course of the final annual meeting of the directors of Ural Federal District Museums. Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Culture expressed its gratitude to the company’s management for the continuous support of the factory museum and exhibition center as well as for participating in the development of the unique museum located on the premises of Demidovskiy Ironworks (this is

The ‘fantastic drop in prices’ announced by the General Director of Ural Airlines Sergey Skuratov has arrived. The carrier reduced its fares by 50% and, according to their spokesperson, this is not a seasonal or time-limited offer. ‘This offer was made possible due to the fact that the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region finally intervened in the long dispute between Koltsovo Airport and Ural Airlines. The Service laid a claim against the airport as it was allegedly violating the Competition Protection Act,’ says the spokesperson for Ural Airlines. ‘Thanks to its efforts, we

Some violations of delivery frequency norms were revealed in the post offices of Russian Post in Yekaterinburg in July 2006. This November, RosSvyazNadzor in Sverdlovsk Region (the monitoring body) conducted an unscheduled inspection of the offices aimed at eliminating these violations. The inspection again made it clear that the delivery of written mail in Yekaterinburg takes place less often than 7 days a week, which is a violation of the Russian Federation Government Provision 160 of March 24, 2006 that reads that the mail should be delivered on a daily basis. The record and other papers

Mechanical Works of Sukhoi Log will be sold by auction on December 25, 2006. The property put up to auction is the non-residential building at 1 Gogol St., Sukhoi Log, Sverdlovsk Region. The opening bid is 500,000 RUR, with the minimal addition to each next bid being 50,000 RUR. In order to take part in the auction, one has to apply in advance and pay the deposit of 200,000 RUR based on the signed deposit agreement as well as produce the documents filled in compliance with the Russian Federation Civil Code. The bidder who outbids everybody else will win the auction and will then be able to

Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company has been busy taking measures that will enhance the reliability and absence of breakdowns at the 220-235 kilowatt substations, transformers and distribution points, and transmission facilities despite cold temperatures, says the company’s spokesperson. The operating team of the company normally switches to special regime when it is 20 to 25 degrees centigrade below zero; should the temperature drop below 25 degrees centigrade, the staff switch to emergency regime, which means that all scheduled repair (except for work mentioned above) gets postponed.

The conference of Union of Sverdlovsk Region Builders will take place in the World Trade Center (44 Kuibyshev St.) on November 29, 2006. The conference will last from 11 AM to 6 PM, with reports presented by Sverdlovsk Region Minister of Construction and Housing Facilities Alexander Karlov, Sverdlovsk Region Minister of Economy and Labour Galina Kovaleva, Chairman of SKB-Bank Vladimir Pukhov, Deputy Chairman of SKB-Bank Yuri Moiseenko, and Chairman of Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia Vladimir Cherkashin. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel is going to greet the audience with his

Evrazruda JSC (Russian ore maker and part of Evraz Group) decided to develop cooperation among the mechanical services of its subsidiaries as well as to introduce a schedule for providing the enterprise with materials; this schedule is expected to make the corporate planning and internal cooperation more organized. The papers covering the schedule procedures contain a detailed algorithm of joint performance of mechanical services and logistics departments of the subsidiaries (the latter deal with centralized supply system and internal order distribution). Abagurskiy subsidiary of Evrazruda

A general shareholder meeting of Uralsevergaz (affiliated company of ITERA Oil and Gas Company) was held in Yekaterinburg. It resulted in electing the new Board of Directors, with Chairman of ITERA Vladimir Makeev becoming the Chairman of the new Board of Uralsevergaz, reports the company’s spokesperson. The former Chairman Valeriy Otcherpov (Chairman of ITERA as well) was elected as recently as June 23, 2006, which is when the annual shareholder meeting was held in Uralsevergaz. Yet in July, Mr Otcherpov resigned from his position in ITERA and became Deputy Chairman of ITERA. Vladimir Makeev

Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration officially confirmed the bankruptcy of VIK Ltd., Vysokogoriye Trade House and Ural Gold Platinum Association Ltd. These companies were found insolvent, so now they have to undergo bankruptcy proceedings. Mr E. B. Rokhlin was appointed trustee in bankruptcy. The debtees may place their demands within two months of the official report of bankruptcy, thus the deadline for applications is December 28, 2006.

Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration officially confirmed the bankruptcy of VIK Ltd., Vysokogoriye Trade House and Ural Gold Platinum Association Ltd. These companies were found insolvent, so now they have to undergo bankruptcy proceedings. Mr E. B. Rokhlin was appointed trustee in bankruptcy. The debtees may place their demands within two months of the official report of bankruptcy, thus the deadline for applications is December 28, 2006.

Vanadium Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise of Kachkanar (part of Evraz Group) introduced the rational water resources management scheme that includes, among other things, a monthly report on the amount of water used and effluent produced. This database is going to be run by the experts from the Chief Power Engineer’s Department. Some of the company’s departments have already been equipped with gadgets necessary to gauge the amount of water; each unit of water supply, effluent channel, and circulating water system will have a special log book to be filled by the people appointed by the

Acting envoy Kevin Lynch has finished his mission in Yekaterinburg and is flying home on November 29, 2006. He’s headed the Consulate for six months, and this was a temporary appointment occasioned by the fact that former consul Clive Thompson had asked for an early resignation due to family circumstances. Jenny Lock was appointed the new Consul General, and she is expected to arrive in Yekaterinburg on January 29, 2006.

OMZ Uralmash (a division of United Machine Building Works, aka OMZ) shipped the equipment for the second continuous casting machine for Severskiy Pipe Works (part of Pipe Metallurgical Company). The first such machine was delivered to Metallurgical Works of Taganrog in June 2006. The machine is currently being assembled on the premises of Severskiy Pipe Works. It will undergo hot testing in December 2006, with launching scheduled for the beginning of 2007. The ?10m contract for making equipment for two continuous casting machines was signed in October 2004, and over 3,800 tons of equipment

‘All price offers of Ural Airlines will go down by 5% to 7% in the first quarter of 2007,’ says the Commercial Director of Ural Airlines Kirill Skuratov. ‘The company has some other pleasant surprises in store for New Year. The Christmas ticket sale will begin at the beginning of December; over the period of December 10 to December 30, all tickets for flights to the cities of Russia and the NIS to be performed between January 15 and March 15 will drop in price by 70%. As for the tickets for Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights, they have already become much cheaper. The price comes to 3,450 RUR